About the Talk

Ever since the first release of the American Community Survey (ACS) in 2005, data users have sought to realize its potential of providing more timely data for small areas of the nation. Since its inception, the limitations associated with containing the costs of the survey have resulted in some difficult compromises involving sample size and the reliability of estimates. Optimizing the utility of the ACS requires decisions on the time period of estimates, tabulation detail, and geographic specificity. This is readily apparent in studies of the foreign-born, where multiple variables such as birthplace groups, year of arrival, citizenship, and language are key analytical components.

More advanced ACS issues – the June 2011 sample reallocation; data aggregation and the calculation of sampling error

Population and housing controls

Strategies for dealing with the limitations of the ACS

ACS - Our experience in New York City

About the Speaker

Joseph J. Salvo is Director of the Population Division at the New York City Department of City Planning. The Population Division serves as the city’s in-house demographic consultant, providing expertise for a whole host of applications involving assessments of need, program planning and targeting, and policy formulation. He has served on the Census Bureau’s Scientific Advisory Committee, on Panels at the National Academy of Sciences on census issues and is a former President of the Association of Public Data Users. Dr. Salvo is co-editor of the Encyclopedia of the U.S. Census (CQ Press, 2012) and co-author of The Newest New Yorkers: 2013, the latest in a series of publications that provide a comprehensive look at the city’s foreign-born population. He received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Fordham University, is a recipient of the Sloan Public Service Award from the Fund for the City of New York and a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.